Category: Blog

Snow cats and book drop

Business first:  Tomorrow! CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR: Adventures in the Liaden Universe(R) #36, featuring three short stories set on Colemeno of recent memory, a speech, and an author’s forward will be released tomorrow in ebook from All of the Usual Suspects, and! in trade paper from Amazon.

Wednesday. Trash Day (holiday schedule). Cold and still. It snowed! overnight.

sigh

Breakfast was naan and hummus and grapes. I haven’t had naan or hummus, either, since Forever, but I went to the Other Grocery yesterday (where I got carded*, all 73 years and every silver white hair of me), because I was so tired of the Usual Grocery’s mediocre veggies and fruits, and also because I thought the Other Grocery would be a surer source for turkey fillets.

I was wrong about the turkey fillets, but I may have gone overboard on fresh stuff, and the problematic bottle of wine, and the hummus was right at my eye level as I turned a corner, and they had helpfully staged the naan right with it and — I was doomed. And it made a lovely breakfast, and I regret Nothing.

Today is another Real Life Day — Physical Therapy in a little over an hour, then a visit to the Usual Grocery to get the stuff the Other Grocery doesn’t carry (or, to be fair, that I forgot about yesterday). Then I have some phone calls to make — Fidium again! All three of the — repeaters? — are out, what fun — and then I need to adjust my Anthropic claim on account I have to Prove that Steve is dead.

I hate having to prove this particular equation, though to be fair, I’m not having to do it nearly so often as I had to, last year this time.

Tomorrow is also my last stained glass class, so I hope I’m discovered to be a soldering wizard.

Friday, Sarah will be by in the morning to help the cats clean up, and it looks like after that I’ll have Friday afternoon through Monday morning cleared to write new words.

If I was a smart writer — a point often in dispute — I’d not only work on doing the correx from the six-day sprint, but also sketch in the scenes that need to be written going forward.

I tried to watch TV last night, but had no brain (this is pretty bad, when you don’t even have enough brain left to sit passively and be spoon-fed a story), so I cuddled on the couch with the cats and listened to music until they jumped down for a snack and I went to bed.

So! All that said — how’re y’all doing this morning? Any snow at your place?

Wednesday morning cat census.
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*Busted:

Tuesday, with dinosaurs

Dinosaurs first:

Well, that was a surprise. One thousand five hundred new words between Jen Sin and the Uncle.

I have tasted the Hiberian Breakfast tea, and it was pleasant; a step up in whatever it is I seek in tea from the standard Irish Breakfast.

I then had a cup of Scottish Morn, which — may not have been wise. That’s — yeah. Quite a cup of tea. I’ll give it a chance on its own in a couple of days. Might be I’ll have to put milk in it, something I never thought I’d be doing.

Dental appointment at 1 pm, after, and depending on the state of the predicted “rain and snow,” I have a couple of errands, including the grocery, then back home and I’ll see where I am about what. It might be Enola Holmes tonight. I didn’t watch anything last night in favor of reading an article about old people “embracing” the single living lifestyle, which was — ultimately unenlightening. The article affected some astonishment regarding the fact that widowed men are more likely to remarry than widowed women. Which I find Not Surprising At All, though I have friends both male and female who have remarried after losing a spouse.

USPS would like me to believe that I am getting two deliveries from itself today. I will be surprised if that happens.

And I think that’s all the news from here. The cats all trooped back to Steve’s office with me this morning, took up their comfy spots, and I think that’s where they all still are.

I think that’s it for me. What’s it for you?

 

 

End run

6:30 am: The workday begins

Later that same day: Taking a break to make myself a pot of lentil soup for today and For! The! Future!

The cats are still all back in Steve’s office, having, as the barbarians they are, not the least little bit of interest in lentil soup. Barbarism aside, I have done my duty to themselves, taken a short walk, and also accomplished a few diddly little things while I’m in this side of the house.

USPS allows me to know that I can expect delivery of my tea order today, so that’ll be interesting, going forward.

Last night’s movie was “Vengeance Most Fowl” which is as far as I know the “new” Wallace and Gromit. Those who had been wanting to know about this new??? Wallace and Gromit will do well to remember that I don’t get out much, and in acknowledgement of that I did quotate “new”.

Tonight, I may (re)watch “Enola Holmes,” which I enjoyed the first time I saw it, and which will be pleasant to see again over a glass of wine.

Tomorrow — is Veteran’s Day. There is therefore, no trash pickup, no needlework (the library being closed), and, I think?, no mail. There is, however, a dental appointment. In case anyone was looking for evidence of Life Not Being Fair.

And! My lunch appears to be done. I’ve just added some red wine, and will let that perk a bit while I cut bread and pour ice tea and such like.

How’s Monday treating y’all?
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The end of the six-day run, and what a run it was.

The manuscript has shrunk, but that was expected, and some of the shrinkage was only due to a particular exchange being in the wrong place, so those words aren’t gone, they’re only on-hold for awhile.

I still have about 200 pages of corrections to input, which will now have to take a back seat to Real Life, but! it’s much easier to sit down for a half-hour between Stuff and input a couple pages of corrections than it is to try to work out a whole scene in spits and spots.

On the topic of Adjusting Mine Environment — I was being sufficiently oppressed by the darkness — especially in Steve’s Wing — that I thought to add to tomorrow’s errands a trip to Home Despot or wherever to buy some twinkle lights to install in the laundry room.

Then, as I was wandering the house earlier, I snapped on one of the many “neon” tube lights we have around here, leaning in corners for quick-lights, and I said to myself, I said, “Self? We don’ need no farkin’ twinkle lights.”

I installed a blue tube and a … pink, I guess it is. And boy! don’t they light up the space! I did hang them up with the brackets that came with; fingers crossed they’ll stay where I put them.

Harney’s came through with the tea, and I have 50 sachets each of Scottish Morn and Hiberian Irish to test drive, starting — tomorrow morning, because now?

It’s wine o’clock.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

Sunday Wrap-up

All righty, then!

I have finished reading and marking up the WIP, and tomorrow I can start on entering All Of That. It will not be finished tomorrow, but I can make a good start. I feel much better about the whole project now, even though there are still Miles To Go. At least, I’m marching in the right direction.

My pens continue to behave themselves, even after I refilled them this afternoon. Yay and also? YAY!

Coon cats have had Happy Hour. I have a vague notion that I’ll watch the “new” Wallace and Gromit this evening. After reading all day, it’s kind of hard to get excited about reading before going to bed. Wallace and Gromit, however, are always in order.

Hopefully, there will are no Early Morning — or any — crises on the schedule for the next Very. Long. While.

And that? is All The News.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

In which pets keep us young

Sunday. Cloudy and cold. “Rain and snow” in the forecast and in fact, it’s snowing now, just a tease, but — yeah, that’s snow.

Big Excitement on the overnight!

First, a little background. Years and years ago, someone told me about their cat who had gotten her head stuck in the handles of a shopping bag, freaked, and proceeded to wreck the house until she could be caught and disentangled.

Obviously, I remembered the story, but in all my years of cat-keeping, I had never seen one of our (superior of course) cats do this.

I want to pause here and state, unequivocally, that my cats are superior.

That said. . . At four-fifteen this morning I was waked by a mighty CRASH!, and the sound of claws skittering on hardwood floors. Looking back, I have to suppose that having been wakened from a sound sleep was a factor in my relative calmness, as I tossed back of the sheets, got into slippers (I hadn’t heard glass break, but best to be prepared) and robe (house was cold). I wandered out to the living room, where I first saw that the basket of keys, gloves, garage door openers, extra sunglasses, and assorted other junque that lives on the table by the front door, had been launched and the contents scattered everywhere.

It took a bit to pick all of this up, and I had to turn on the foyer light, which allowed me to see — in the kitchen — the contents of the bag I had started to fill with Stuff to take to Goodwill. Several of those things (not glass, but delicate) needed to be binned, which I did, then gathered up the other stuff to put on the snow bench . . .

. . . which is when it occurred to me to wonder where the Actual Bag was.

I sighted down the living room, and saw what appeared to be the bag between the rocking chair and the table next to it. Upon collection, however, it was revealed to be two-thirds of a bag: one handle and a swath of paper was still missing.

I got rid of the big chunk of bag and walked to the back, where I heard a rustling in the closet in Steve’s office.

Let me pause here to say that one of Rook’s many fine qualities is that he apparently trusts me to Fix Stuff. I stopped a couple steps into the room, where I could see the closet and it could see me, and said, “You’ve still got the bag around your neck, don’t you? C’mon, Rookie. Let me help you.”

And he came — belly low and tail drooping, yes, but he came — and put himself across my feet. I got the loop from around his neck, and dropped the remains of the bag into the recycling bin by the desk.

Rookie stood up on his back legs, put his front paws on my knee, and Gazed Adoringly™ up into my face, so I picked him up and sat down. We snuggled for a bit, then I brought him back to bed with me.

Which is why I was a tad late rising this morning. I’ve eaten breakfast — leftover sweet potato stifry from yesterday’s lunch — and my second mug of tea is at hand. I still need to locate a bag without handles to put the surviving Goodwill stuff into. And I guess while I’m in this part of the house, and on the Business Computer, I’ll pull the trigger on that order I’ve been building for a bit.

How’s everybody doing this morning?

Writing and the art of fountain pen maintenance

Discursions first:  There are some great titles out there in the word. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds are two of my favorites.  What are some of your favorite titles?

Onward.

I’ve got about 100 more pages of WIP to read, which I’ll do tomorrow, and then get with actually making the changes I’ve notated.

The last three days have been awesome; being able to concentrate on the story, and not have to interrupt my thought processes to cope with RL is priceless. It’s what Steve and I were able to give to each other — whoever was lead got as much relief from RL as it was possible for the other to give them. Living the Life of the Mind, Baby.

Next week is RL’s Revenge, but I still have tomorrow and Monday to work.

I can also report other accomplishments on the day. Three of my four TWSBI ECO demonstrator pens, that I love beyond all reason, have lately become very … drippy. I couldn’t write a page without blots, and it was getting worse. I really was at the point of thinking I was going to have to go back to roller pens, which are — OK, but they’re not fountain pens. So — long story short — I looked on the internet and found out that pens that are dropped a lot (those would be my pens), sometimes the nib gets loose, and the ink can’t flow properly, and blots happen. If my pens were blotting, maybe try pushing in the nibs.

Figuring that at this point, I had nothing to lose, I pushed the nib in on the first (leaking the most) pen.

SNAP! the nib reseated itself. My heart rose, and I did the same thing with the second and third pens — SNAPSNAP!

And the pen that hadn’t been giving me any trouble? No snap.

I’ve been writing with the former worst offender all afternoon, and nary a blot.

Y’know? When the internet works, it’s a good tool.

So, a satisfying and productive day here at the Confusion Factory. The cats have been Extremely Good and even now, with Happy Hour on the horizon, they’re only making the verymost quietest suggestions that Saturday Happy Hour could happen a little earlier?

Hope everybody had a good day, which is segueing into a good evening. Stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

Supervisors on duty. Yes, I am a pawful.

 

 

Saturday business with coon cats and yam

Business First: Amazon allows me to know that the paper edition of Civilized Behavior “is scheduled for release on 11/13/2025. On this date, your book’s detail page will become visible to readers to purchase your book on Amazon everywhere you have territory rights at 12:00 a.m. UTC.” This release is concurrent with the ebook release.

So, that‘s a thing.

Saturday. Dim and damp. Up at 6:15, breakfast bar and tea at the desk.

I hit a rough patch in the WIP, where I wobbled a bit. I removed two scenes, which has gotten me back on-course. The irony is that one of those was a touchstone scene that I started the book knowing I had to include. Proving yet again that writing is a Science.

Ahem.

Taking a break now to get myself some lunch — I’m thinking the yam, an onion, garlic, maybe a can of white potatoes, too (so I can have leftovers tomorrow, for breakfast, maybe, with an egg), sauteed, and cottage cheese on the side.

After, I’ll do my duty to the cats and get back with the WIP.

I hereby give myself permission to not finish the read-through today. Yes, I know that was The Plan, but it’s no sense bringin’ killin’ into it.

The cats have been Very Much Approving of me spending more time in Steve’s office, so that’s another thing. I’m enjoying having a dedicated writing, and only writing, computer, and a space that’s not cluttered with Business I Have To Get To, so this was actually a Good Move.

Last night, I worked late to get the first 200 pages read, then collapsed into bed after my dinner, and put Black Cat Jazz on ‘way low. All of the cats joined me and we just sorta zoned out and purred..

So, that’s what’s happening around here. What’s happening with you?

The work in hand

Friday. Dim and chilly. Slept late, for recent values of late.

Today is an Official sweatpants-sweatshirt-snuggy-sox-Read!-The!-Manuscript!-Day.

. . . just as soon as I get breakfast, which will be! Oatmeal with apple jam. First cup of tea is brewing.

Kpop Demon Hunters was amusing, and I’m not sorry I had to wrassle Netflix best two out of three to get to watch it.

Y’all have a good Friday.

Books read in 2025

56  Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (e) (bkclb)
55  Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega 2)(re-read) (e)
54  Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega 1) (re-read) (e)
53  Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega.5(re-read) (e)
52  Blind Date with a Werewolf, Patricia Briggs (e)
51  The Women, Kristin Hannah (e) (bkclb)
50  Emilie and the Hollow World, (Emilie Adventures #1) Martha Wells (e)
49  Black Tie & Tails (Black Wolves of Boston #2), Wen Spencer (e)
48  Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky(The Final Architecture #1)e)
47  Hemlock and Silver, T. Kingfisher (e)
46  Outcrossing, Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm #1) (e)
45  Outfoxing Fate, Zoe Chant/Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters)(e)
44  Atonement Sky, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) (e)
43  Stone and Sky, Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #10) (e)
42  Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41  I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40  To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39  These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38  Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37  Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36  The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35  Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha’s Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33  The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32  Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31  The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30  The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29  Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28  The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27  Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26  The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25  Night’s Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24  The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23  Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22  The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21  The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20  A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19  The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18  A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17  All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16  Destiny’s Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15  The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14  A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13  Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12  Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O’Hea (e)
11  Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10  Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9    House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6    Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea,  TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.

Sapphire Days, Peridot Knights

Weather first:  It snowed this afternoon.

Earlier That Same Day: Taking a break to bring the windchimes in for the winter.

Today is the 45th celebration of the day Steve Miller and I married. Against both of our better judgments, and yet, it was the only way to make certain we would each have someone to speak for us, if we couldn’t speak for ourselves.

I am once again thankful that we were often in the situation of having to put off Official Celebrations until whatever project happened to be on-deck was caught up. This means that working on the WIP is nothing out of the ordinary for an anniversary.

In honor of the day, I am wearing one sapphire earring and one peridot earring — my birthstone and Steve’s adopted birthstone (he didn’t like rubies). The air cleaners are on in the living room and the bedroom, and all of the cats joined me in Steve’s office to work.

I have a pizza, which I may or may not partake of this evening — pizza was the Official Standby Celebration Food — and now the sun has come out.

Back to work I go.

I hope everyone’s having a good morning.
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So! I rearranged the WIP, sorted what happens on which day, which was really needed. I pulled some scenes, and adjusted others. The whole manuscript in its new configuration is now printing out so I can do a read-through tomorrow.

For the moment, I’m finishing up my tea and cookies (note to self: find recipe for soft-baked lemon-sugar cookies; those things are yummy). After, I’ll go downstairs and do the cat box change out that I missed doing, what with the back and then the rush to catch up my stained glass. Then a shower, and then?

Maybe tonight is Kpop Demon Hunters. Why not?

I have decided that I will be making my own Thanksgiving dinner this year. There are certain things that I want to eat, and it’s not that hard to bake a couple of turkey fillets, pop a tube of biscuits, mix up a bowl of mashed, and another of dressing, if I wanna be Really Crazy, and throw some asparagus in a pan. Pie is readily available in Hannaford and Shaw’s and whipped cream is an easy buy.

So, this year, I’ll have what I want, as much or as little, while feeling neither forlorn nor bereft, and! I’ll have leftovers. And nor I won’t have to drive to Lisa’s or put up with Front and Main or The Senator. (All of these are very nice restaurants; I just don’t want to have to cope with any of them on Thanksgiving.)

That’s a Decision, then, and it even feels reasonable, which trying to convince myself to go to the buffet at Lisa’s just … wasn’t.

What else?

. . . not much actually. Days get weird when you prioritize writing.

I can report that it has stopped snowing — some hours ago, actually. Just a squall. Or a threat. Whatever.

So! Signing off for the night.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe out there.